Chapter 6 2.1 Stabilize prices

On May 31, 1948, the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the Northeast Finance and Economics Committee, and Chen Yun was in charge of the work of the Finance and Economics Committee. On July 17, Chen Yun served as the director of the Financial and Economic Committee of the Northeast Administrative Committee.This is the second time that Chen Yun has presided over the financial work of the revolutionary base area after he took charge of the financial work in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. In June 1946, with the consent of the Central Committee, the Northeast Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided that Chen Yun would be in charge of finance, economy and logistics.But it was a turbulent period under the war environment, and the financial work was mainly to solve the logistics and supply problems of the troops, not to mention the overall economic work.The Northeast Bureau regards cleaning up and confiscating enemy and counterfeit assets as the main way to solve financial and economic difficulties.The amount of these materials is quite considerable, and when they first entered the Northeast and their foothold was not stable, they solved the urgent need.Li Fuchun, who was also in charge of financial work, later wittily compared the financial work during this period to "picking the ocean".

The nature of presiding over the overall work of Northeast Finance and Economics this time is different. On June 7, 1948, Chen Yun stated at the Standing Committee of the Northeast Bureau: At present, the Northeast base area has become a large area, has a considerable scale, and is still developing.Therefore, an important task in the Northeast is to organize financial and economic work to meet the needs of the national war.Some of the military aspects of financial and economic work in the past have become outdated and are not commensurate with the current situation.Now, public grain, taxation, forestry, railway transportation, etc. are all closely related to farmers and citizens, and the slightest movement will affect the interests of the people.

Compared with the "small stalls" in Northwest China, the stage of Chen Yun's financial activities is very different.The Northeast is originally a land of prosperity.As the proverb goes, "Beat the roe deer with a stick and ladle the fish, and the pheasant will fly into the rice pot."This piece of black land is fertile and wild, and it is known as a "granary". It is an important grain-producing area. There is a so-called "Huhai Baba, Suihua outside" (referring to Hulan, Helen, Bayan, Baiquan and Suihua in Heilongjiang) , "Jinfuhaigai, Liaoyang is outside" (referring to Jinxian, Fuxian, Haicheng, Gaixian and Liaoyang in Liaoning).Moreover, various resources, especially forest resources and coal resources, are extremely rich. Railways extend in all directions, and there is the most developed heavy industry system in old China.Moreover, the Northeast has a large population, and borders on the friendly Soviet Union, North Korea, and Mongolia. The urban-rural exchanges and internal and external exchanges are smooth. It is a national economy in a truly modern sense.If the Northeast's economy is doing well, it will provide unprecedentedly strong economic support for the War of Liberation.

Mao Zedong, who lived on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, had long cast his giant strategic vision on the black land of the Northeast, and had high hopes for the strong economic strength of the Northeast. On May 31, 1945, when Mao Zedong made the conclusion of the meeting at the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China, he specifically mentioned the Northeast with extraordinary foresight.He said: The Northeast is an extremely important region, and it may be under our leadership in the future.If the Northeast can be under our leadership, what does that mean for the Chinese revolution?I think it can be said that our victory has a basis, that is to say, our victory has been confirmed.Now our small base area is quite scattered by the enemy, and every hill and every base area is not consolidated, has no industry, and is in danger of extinction.Therefore, we have to fight for the city, and we have to fight for such a whole place.If we have a large base area, including the Northeast, on a national scale, the victory of the Chinese revolution will have a solid foundation.Is there any basis now?There is a foundation, but it has not yet been consolidated, because we have no industry, no heavy industry, and no mechanized army.If we have the Northeast, and the big cities and the base areas are integrated, then we will have a solid foundation for our victory throughout the country.

However, realizing Mao Zedong's ardent expectations was not an easy task.The Japanese imperialist plunder and continuous war caused great damage to the economy of Northeast China.Chen Yun and other party financial cadres have no experience in managing modern industrial transportation.Whether the northeast industrial base can be reborn from the ashes and provide strong economic support for the victory of the war is a serious test. Too much money was issued and so little food was harvested, leading to skyrocketing food prices, everyone feared that they would not be able to control the food.However, Chen Yun ordered the free circulation of grain to be opened, so that prices would rise flat rather than skyrocketing.

On June 10, Chen Yun officially presided over the financial work in the Northeast Liberated Area amidst the economic chaos in the Northeast. Although the Northeast is a grain-producing area, the heavy burden of the war still exerted tremendous pressure on the Northeast economy. In March 1948, prices in the Northeast Liberated Areas began to rise sharply. In April, May, and June, the price increases rose one after another.Leading the rise is food. The Northeast is rich in food, so why are you still nervous?Chen Yun learned that in 1948, a total of 1.34 million tons of public grain was collected, and the Bureau of Trade purchased 400,000 tons of grain. Except for supply needs, there was no room for adjustment in the market.The 2.5 million tons of grain and rice cakes needed by the 8-9 million urban population in the Northeast Liberated Areas, except Harbin, are completely dependent on the grain sold by more than 20 million farmers in the market.The city has a large population, and the government is unable to adjust it, which makes the supply and demand relationship unbalanced. If there is a slight imbalance, food prices will skyrocket.In addition, last year both South Manchuria and North Manchuria had poor harvests. South Manchuria has always been short of grain, and North Manchuria’s grain cannot be transported southward in large quantities. Grain is expensive in the south and cheap in the north. At the highest point, the difference is 7 times, which affects the price of food in North Manchuria.

However, Chen Yun also learned that people in the Northeast have an average of 600 millet catties of grain, which is much higher than the average of 400 millet catties in the liberated areas within the border.It is still possible to think about food.But Chen Yun has his own considerations on how to make up his mind. At that time, some people advocated reducing exports, but Chen Yun did not agree. On June 11, Chen Yun pointed out at the Standing Committee of the Northeast Bureau: What we can currently export is basically grain, and we must not only export surplus grain, but also tighten our stomachs and export as much as possible.Food should be exchanged for military supplies, civilian and industrial supplies, of which military supplies account for the bulk.We must criticize one-sided views of the masses, if we do not export more food, we will get more from the masses instead.The price, from a small point of view, we suffer losses; from an overall point of view, we make a lot of money, because this is a big deal.Some comrades only saw part of it, thought it was not worthwhile, and lost a lot of money in the end.This kind of comrade can only be the director of general affairs, and cannot manage the national economy and the people's livelihood.Obviously, Chen Yun viewed grain export from the perspective of ensuring military supplies and developing production.

If you can't get the idea of ​​exporting, then use administrative means to control the grain.Under normal circumstances, if something is lacking, the public should of course control it.This is exactly what the Northeast Finance and Economics Department did a while ago. In order to ensure that the public buys grain, vendors are restricted from carrying more than 50 catties of grain. But the result was obviously a failure.After analysis, Chen Yun found that it was precisely this practice that reduced the adjustment power of the society and stimulated the rise in grain prices, making farmers reluctant to sell.They wanted to buy food, but in the end they couldn't even buy food.In Northeast China at that time, the control resulted in price but no market, which was far more harmful to the economy than rising food prices.

In order to survive the grain shortage season in the disaster area, encourage farmers to sell grain, and stabilize the market with limited supplies, Chen Yun, after careful analysis and careful weighing, decided to immediately change the method of controlling grain operations and selling supplies. It is determined to allow reasonable and flat price rises and prevent skyrocketing rises, so as to maximize the power of the public economy to stabilize the market, effectively control food, and enable the Northeast economy to overcome difficulties smoothly. According to Chen Yun’s opinion, on July 10, the Northeast Administrative Committee issued [Dongcai] No. 13 Order, the main content of which is that within the territory of the Liberated Areas, all grains, regardless of variety and quantity, processed or unprocessed, regardless of provinces, counties, districts and villages, All are free to circulate.No organ, force, group or individual shall block or interfere.In railway transportation, the transportation certificate system is cancelled.In case of intentional blockade or interference, the parties concerned can file a complaint with the governments at all levels, and the governments at all levels will punish them as infringement of people's property.

Chen Yun broke the routine and proceeded from the reality. While prohibiting private hoarding, he allowed the free circulation of grain, which achieved remarkable results.Grain has been recirculated in the market, and the price of grain has fallen or tended to be stable in the food-deficient areas, while it has risen in the surplus-grain areas, and an appropriate market price has been formed throughout the Northeast. At the most critical moment of the shortage of grain, the price of grain has only increased by 4 to 5% in a month. Ten, on the contrary, grain prices are more stable than in April, May and February.